


Tough Luck

by milkymeats



Series: Tough [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Blood and Injury, Hurt No Comfort, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:42:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22592722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkymeats/pseuds/milkymeats
Summary: Sometimes, Miraculous Ladybug doesn't always undo the damage an akuma does, and when that happens, Marinette deals with the aftermath.
Series: Tough [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1625605
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44





	Tough Luck

**Author's Note:**

> trying out a new fandom fukc ye h

The akuma is fast, as Ladybug finds out very early in the battle.

Chat Noir is out for the count, having been rushed at the second he'd come on to the scene. So now it was just Ladybug, one-on-one, with an akuma way too fast for comfort.

They kept switching up on her mid-battle, attacking from both afar and up close. Their weapon, a giant, metal claymore, swung in the air wildly, forcing Ladybug to duck and cover as the man cackled.

The second he stopped, she was on him. Her lucky charm this time around was a bat, of sorts. It certainly looked like a bat, that is.

With every attack she dodged, she came back at him with her own, thrusting the polkadot weapon at him to knock him off guard. For a while they parried each other, up until Ladybug was finally able to knock the akuma off balance.

His weapon jerked to side when he missed, and Ladybug smirked at the opening presenting itself. The akumatized item, a bowtie with a plastic gem heart in the middle, rest on the akuma's neck.

As she reached for it, desperately trying to keep her bat against the man's body to keep him from moving suddenly, she failed to hear his cackle.

With a start, he jolted, elbowing the spotted hero in the back before she could grab the bowtie. Ladybug grunted, her knees hitting the ground as she tried to catch her breath from the hard blow.

Quickly, too quickly for her to comprehend, he rushed forward, and Ladybugs' eyes widened as she saw what he was heading towards, _who_ he was heading towards.

A boy, no older than twelve years old, stood frozen in the akuma's path, stock-still and _scared,_ she knew.

"No!!"

Ladybug leaped up, throwing her yoyo to wrap around the akuma's arm, the wrong arm, she realizes much too late.

With a grunt and a terrifyingly sadistic cackle, the man thrust his claymore into the boys' chest, before pulling it out roughly two seconds later.

"NO!!!!"

The boy, eyes wide and lifeless, falls to the ground, and blood quickly pools around him. Distantly, Ladybug hears the sound of a scream, shaken and horrified and _angry._

Acting quickly, she yanks the man to her, ripping his bowtie off the second he's in reach. She ignores his sadistic laughing as she purifies it, she ignores the outline of the purple butterfly mask that briefly appears over the man's face before disappearing.

As the ladybugs wash over the city, her eyes find the boy, waiting for the wound to close, waiting for the blood pooling him to go away, waiting for him to sit up, smiling and confused, but alive.

He doesn't.

The blood is still there, as is the wound, and as more people approach her, she hears the screeches, the gags, the _everything_.

Tears build up in her eyes as she stumbles away, nearly slamming into multiple buildings while she swings home.

~~~

Later that day, the police investigate the previously akumatized man, and it turns out he's a serial killer. A well-known one, in fact.

The police thank Ladybug for helping them finally capture him, but it feels wrong. It all feels wrong.

After all, the Papillon was the one to have him akumatized.

But why would he akumatize a well-known serial killer? What was he thinking?

~~~

When night rolls by, Marinette and Tikki curl around each other in a tearful embrace.

**_No_ ** **_one's ever_ ** **_died_ ** **_before._ **

_It_ _wasn't_ _your fault._

_**I should've** _ _**done** _ _**something** _ _**more.** _

_You_ _had_ _no_ _idea what_ _he_ _was going to do._

_**It should've been** _ _**me.** _

_......_

When Marinette had gotten home, she was in tears and went up to her room immediately.

Her parents had heard the news, and assumed that she must've known the boy who was involved in the accident. They were concerned but they let her be, thinking she needed a minute to herself.

But as she and Tikki replayed what had happened over and over again in their heads, she knew she was going to need more than just a minute to deal with it.

~~~~~~~~~

A funeral was held for the boy and his family, who, unfortunately, had remembered the event the moment they saw his body.

Ladybug attended, giving the boys' parents a tearful hug and an apology that couldn't, for all it's worth, equate to the guilt and sorrow she felt. They appreciated her attendance, and told her firmly that they knew it wasn't her fault.

As the tearful service went on, not a single akuma was spotted.

~~~~~~~~~

It was almost two months later when the Papillon sent out an akuma once more.

As Ladybug and Chat Noir hopped on the scene, they noticed how quiet the akuma was, how he wasn't even trying, it seemed.

When they defeated him, and Miraculous Ladybug cleaned up the minimal damage, Ladybug stood by silently.

And if anyone noticed how much more reclusive she was nowadays, they said nothing about it.

**Author's Note:**

> still working on the upcoming gridman story for those that are following it! just postin some other works in the meantime


End file.
